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A Living Hope

February 27, 2011 By Dee Dee Wike

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you. — 1 Peter 1:3-4, NIV

Without a doubt, spring is my favorite season of the year. It thrills me to see the brittle golden grass of winter transformed blade by blade into a lush carpet of glorious green! The flowering trees in my neighborhood are full of buds just waiting for God’s baton to cue their blooming. The songbirds are nesting and singing praise to the Creator who has sheltered them through the cold winter months. As the gloomy darkness of winter gives way to the sunshine of spring, not only is my garden filled with flowers emerging from a long winter’s nap beneath the frozen earth, but my heart is filled anew with hope and the assurance that the same God who orchestrates the seasons is in control of even my worst days.

The beauty and new life of spring remind me of God’s most glorious work of all — the salvation of sinful man. God, the giver of life, sacrificed the life of His only Son in order that we might be given new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Scripture tells us that Christ died for all (2 Corinthians 5:15) and that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (vs. 17)!

As you plant flower and vegetable seeds in your garden this spring, keep in mind the words Jesus spoke before His crucifixion: “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). Consider Christ’s great sacrifice in your behalf and the living hope that is yours through His resurrection. Then sow seeds of hope in the lives of those who don’t know Him by sharing His love and telling of the marvelous things He has done for you.